Chapter 1, Lord Levi of Rhode Island
China, Northeast, Heilongjiang Province, Harbin City
In a dark, narrow and messy room, many dirty clothes, plastic bags, empty instant noodle bowls and fast food boxes were thrown away in a mess, leaving the room always filled with an unpleasant sour smell. In addition, there is also a lingering smell of smoke, which is as mixed as a doghouse.
The large anime posters posted on the walls, as well as the figures and models scattered everywhere, give the place an otaku atmosphere.
Next to the most eye-catching computer desk in the room, the flickering fluorescence of an 18-inch LCD screen illuminated a pale and haggard face.
A tall and thin figure with disheveled hair like a bird's nest was sitting in front of the computer with concentration, typing on the keyboard. The slightly yellow hair and the face with slightly Western characteristics all show the foreign ancestry of this young man.
However, for this college graduate named Levi, his half-Russian ancestry does not seem to have brought him any benefit in job hunting - it has been a year since he graduated from college, and poor Levi However, my classmates are still unemployed and can only stay at home and eat their money.
What's even worse is that for Li Wei, whose parents are now dead and living alone, after spending the last remaining bit of inheritance and student loans, he may not even be able to get back his old capital. ——So, after eating instant noodles for four days in a row, classmate Li Wei, who felt extremely uncomfortable in his stomach, finally gave up his last trace of moral integrity and posted an embarrassing job search post online.
"...Summer is coming. Since I have been unemployed for a long time and I need to make a living, I have opened the following jobs: writing summer homework for primary school students; bullying other classmates for primary school students; holding family meetings on behalf of students' parents, etc.
Charging standard:
Summer homework: (62 pages for grades 1-3) 60 yuan. (62 pages for grades 4-6) 80 yuan.
Bullying classmates: (height 1.3m-1.4m) 80 yuan. (Height 1.4m-1.6m) 100 yuan. (Height 1.6m-1.8m) Price negotiable.
Love letter writing: 40 yuan for about 500 words. 500-1000 words 60 yuan.
100 yuan for 1,000-2,000 words. Prices are negotiable for articles above 2,000 words.
Glass breaking: 20 yuan on the first floor. 20 yuan on the second floor. 40 yuan for the third floor. Prices are negotiable from the fourth floor up. (*There are dogs in the community, or interviews with strong security)
Those who spend more than 200 yuan above can get a free membership card. Students with membership cards can apply for the following membership********:
Holding parent-teacher conference on behalf of parents: 40 yuan within one hour. 70 yuan for one to two hours.
100 yuan for two to three hours. Prices are negotiable for more than three hours.
Beating teachers: female teacher (90 yuan), male teacher (120 yuan), physical education teacher (price negotiable). Welcome your warm visit..."
After typing the last word, Levi looked around his 40-square-meter puppy house melancholy, and then looked at the clock in the corner of the computer screen... Well, it's already three minutes! He quickly turned around and opened the paper cover of Master Kong's beef bowl noodles. A familiar pungent aroma suddenly hit his face, making classmate Li Wei frown and feel his stomach churn again.
Hey, even though I’ve eaten instant noodles until I almost felt like vomiting, it’s still better than drinking boiled water and eating bread!
After touching the few coins in his pocket, Levi sighed and reluctantly gave up the hope of ordering takeout from the restaurant downstairs.
——Since graduating from college, his life journey seems to have been unsatisfactory: he has been hit by many obstacles in finding a job, no one is interested in writing online articles, and he has suffered miserably in running a Taobao store; working as a dishwasher in a small restaurant is a bit boring. I don’t want to lose face, so I’m almost at the end of my rope now!
If that doesn't work, should I go to the construction site tomorrow and try moving bricks? Levi was thinking wildly while eating instant noodles.
Then, when he turned his head and looked at the screen, he found that in just a few minutes, there were already replies under his job search post
Although this reply is a bit strange - "Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to truly...live? YES/NO"
Eh? What does this mean? Levi blinked in confusion, but still clicked the mouse on YES.
The next moment, Levi, a poor and unemployed otaku, felt his eyes go dark and disappeared from his puppy house without a trace.
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The choking smoke, the rude noise, the woman’s delicate smile, the pungent smell of bad wine
This is... what place? How did I get here?
Levi rubbed his groggy head, raised his head from the table in confusion, and then found that he was actually in a tavern.
This place looks like a medieval European-style tavern, with thatched roofs, log beams and pillars, but it is different from the "fairy tale taverns" in movies or Disneyland. The air here is filled with the smell of smoke and alcohol. There was a stench of sweat and sweat, and the furniture and utensils were all very dirty and shabby. For example, the wine glasses and plates on the table in front of him were actually made of wood, and they looked very bumpy. The ground was also dirty mud, and there were even dogs scurrying around, fighting for the bones and crumbs left by the drinkers.
Looking around again, Levi noticed that the tavern was very busy - at least a hundred people were crowded into the not-so-large space. These people all had typical Western faces and were dressed in tatters and dirty clothes. Wearing coarse cloth clothes and holding a frothy dark beer in their hands, they were noisy and singing loudly while eating and drinking coarse wine and food. A troubadour dressed like a clown was playing the flute vigorously next to the bar, arousing applause from time to time. There were also several women with slutty looks and scantily clad clothes walking among them, smiling coquettishly and placing the palms of every customer who was willing to pay on their breasts... just like what you often see in Hollywood pirate movies.
What made Levi feel very strange was that these people clearly didn't speak Chinese, but he could understand what they were saying! What made him feel even more strange was that although the people in the tavern were right next to him, close at hand, they seemed to be separated by a layer of real and illusory barriers. It's a bit dull, as if there is an invisible "wall" in the middle...
Levi reached out curiously and touched outside, and found that there was indeed an invisible barrier separating them from the people outside.
What surprised Levi even more was that just when he raised his arm, he suddenly discovered that he had changed into a chainmail armor at some point!
It was only then that Levi, who was slow to react, noticed that besides himself, there were nine other people sitting on this table, both men and women. They all had typical East Asian appearances and wore locks with a medieval style. Armor - the kind of "fishnet-like armor" made up of many small iron rings connected - or scale armor, hunting clothes and robes, carrying cold weapons such as long swords, battle axes or maces. Six of them had been sitting awake, but they just looked at themselves silently, as if they were watching a play. The other three were lying on the table, still asleep.
However, just when Levi was about to ask them, the three remaining people also regained consciousness one by one.
"...What the hell is this place!? Huh? Is this a movie?" A young man with red spiky hair and a crossbow on his back raised his head in confusion, looked around and said Howling like a ghost.
"...Don't make any noise, I don't know where this place is. Even if the Hongxing Gang wants to torment me, they won't make it so exaggerated!"
The other bald man, who had also just woken up, first looked at the hedgehog head with disdain, then looked at the surrounding environment and the woman who was still lying on the table and was still awake. He couldn't help but turn his eyes to the table. He was awake, and showed a vigilant and wary expression, but his mouth was unusually polite, "...Excuse me, gentlemen and ladies, can anyone tell me what is going on?"< br>
"...Well, the remaining ladies should stop pretending to be asleep. Something important is about to be announced now!"
A certain scar-faced knight, who had been sitting at the table and watching what happened, suddenly clapped his hands and said with a smile. The last remaining girl, who was wearing a medieval lady's dress, could only raise her head in embarrassment when she heard the sound, as if she wanted to explain something.
But before she could speak, she was interrupted by the scar-faced knight who led the group.
"...First of all, welcome to the infinite space full of killing and death. Say goodbye to the peaceful life! Rookies! The 'Lord God' should have already input a message into your memory. You just need to think about it carefully. You can recall..."
He first pretended to be fierce, looked around the crowd with a ferocious smile, and was satisfied to see the scared looks on the faces of these rookies. Then he briefly introduced the situation of infinite space, and then changed the subject, "... ...Secondly, I want to congratulate you. Although you unfortunately fell into this cruel Colosseum, the first plot you entered was a very long historical time and space-the Hundred Years' War between England and France!
Although in this time and space, we will start a team battle with another team, our opponent team will not come until a full three years later, when the Battle of Crecy is about to start. At the same time, in this In the battle, decide the winner with us.
So, even if you are so desperate that you can't even survive the first plot, you should be able to survive for several years - as long as you are not unlucky enough to be killed by the local natives! Be content! Rookies! Many veterans who have experienced more than a dozen plots may not live as long as you! ”
——Although it sounds like comforting words, but placed in such an incredible and strange environment, coupled with the sinister tone of the senior scar-faced knight, it made several newcomers who had not yet accepted the facts feel confused for a while. Feeling even more scared.
Only classmate Li Wei, who had been impacted by various otaku cultures for a long time, was the first to calm down, raised a hand and asked:
"...Well...since we have traveled to the Hundred Years' War between England and France, which camp are we going to be on? Also, which year in the Hundred Years' War have we traveled to specifically? And this place Where is it? As outsiders who suddenly come to this time and space, has the Lord God arranged an identity for us? Or does it have to be completely made up by ourselves? "
"...These questions are well asked, which shows that you have carefully thought about your situation, rookie!" The scar-faced knight raised his eyebrows and glanced at Levi with seeming appreciation, "...It is now 1342 AD. This is a tavern in the port of Marseille, France, so we are obviously in the French camp! As for the identity set by the Lord God... it’s a little complicated. Have you heard of the Crusades?”
"... I probably know a little bit, I often play "Medieval Total War"." Levi smiled honestly, "... But... in the era of the Hundred Years' War between England and France, wasn't the Crusade ended long ago? Those Crusader kingdoms should have been destroyed too!”
"...Ahem, you're right, but not entirely." Another middle-aged man in black robes, who seemed to be a scholar, coughed dryly and intervened, "...In this era, The Crusaders have indeed lost the last Palestinian stronghold, the city of Acre, and have completely withdrawn from the land of the Asian continent, but they still occupy many islands in the Eastern Mediterranean and cross from time to time. The Arab and Turkish rebels who attacked the mainland by sea are somewhat similar to Jiang Gong, who was "far away from Taiwan and counterattacked the mainland". The identity set by the Lord God is to serve under the orders of the Knights of the Hospital. , the descendants of the Crusaders who came from Rhodes Island to support France - the main force of the Crusaders has always been French, so they are naturally close to France..."
"...Rhodes Island? I seem to have heard of it in an old Japanese light novel. Does this place really exist?"
The only female newcomer interjected, and Levi, who was also an otaku, nodded in agreement.
"...Hey! Don't confuse the fantasy island in "Rhode Island War" with the real Rhode Island in the Eastern Mediterranean! Rookie!" The scar-faced knight knocked on the table in displeasure. At the same time, he drew a simple map of the Eastern Mediterranean and Rhodes Island on the table while soaking in wine, "...that place It is now the residence of the Knights Hospitaller, and it is also the last stronghold of the Crusaders in Asia. As for us, the men wearing armor are all knights from Rhode Island, and the men without armor are squires or mercenaries. The identity is set as a French aristocratic lady returning home..."
As he said this, he patted the scales on his body, "...Haha, don't underestimate this armor! In this era of backward productivity, it is almost a symbol of nobility! Every one of us who wears armor, He is worthy of being called a lord in this world”
In an instant, Levi, who was wearing chainmail, felt two envious and jealous looks from the bald man and the red-haired hedgehog.
Uh... So, according to the medieval address pattern, I seem to have become Lord Levi of Rhode Island? ! Levi thought with a wry smile.
"...Then, according to the setting of the Lord God, we have a stronghold provided by the Knights Hospitaller in Marseille, and we will all look for it together later. Okay, let me introduce myself one last time. My name is..."
Before the scar-faced knight who looked like the captain could finish speaking, he suddenly heard a "pop" sound in his ears, like a balloon being punctured.
At the same time, everyone only felt that the space they were in was shaking slightly, and then the world in their eyes suddenly became clear. Not only that, even the noise in the pub that they heard in their ears completely lost all barriers - —Everyone can start taking action! "... Let's get here first! It's time for us to set off, captain!" The black-robed scholar patted the scar-faced knight on the shoulder and said, then looked up at the four rookies and said with meaning. , "...No matter what you are thinking in your hearts, but since fate has tied us together, in the next few years, I hope that we can all get along well with each other, fresh mercenaries, miss, and Sir!”